2018-03-21

Continued

Hawking's run of radical discoveries led to his election in 1974 to the Royal Society at the young age of 32. Five years later, he became the Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge, arguably Britain's most distinguished chair, and one formerly held by Isaac Newton, Charles Babbage and Paul Dirac, the latter one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics.

Hawking's seminal contributions continued through the 1980s. The theory of cosmic inflation holds that the fledgling universe went through a period of terrific expansion. In 1982, Hawking was among the first to show how quantum fluctuations — tiny variations in the distribution of matter — might give rise through inflation to the spread of galaxies in the universe. In these tiny ripples lay the seeds of stars, planets and life as we know it.

But it was A Brief History of Time that rocketed Hawking to stardom. Published for the first time in 1988, the title made the Guinness Book of Records after it stayed on the Sunday Times bestsellers list for an unprecedented 237 weeks. It sold 10m copies and was translated into 40 different languages. Nevertheless, wags called it the greatest unread book in history.

▍生词好句

run: n. 一连串的事；接二连三发生的事情

radical /ˈradɪk(ə)l/: adj. 重大的；前卫的

the Royal Society: 英国皇家学会

the Lucasian professor of mathematics: 卢卡斯数学教授席位

arguably /ˈɑːɡjʊəbli/: adv. 可以说；可论证地

distinguished /dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃt/: adj. 卓越的；有名的

seminal /ˈsɛmɪn(ə)l/: adj. 突破性的；开创性的

cosmic inflation: 宇宙膨胀

fledgling /ˈflɛdʒlɪŋ/: n. 刚长出羽毛的幼鸟

terrific /təˈrɪfɪk/: adj.（尺寸或程度）极其巨大的

fluctuation /ˌflʌktjʊˈeɪʃ(ə)n, ˌflʌktʃʊˈeɪʃ(ə)n/: n.（价格，利率等）波动

variation: n. 变化

the distribution of matter: 物质的分布

give rise to…: 导致；引起

ripple /ˈrɪp(ə)l/: n. 波纹；涟漪

rocket /ˈrɒkɪt/: vt. （使）迅速成功

title: n. 书

Guinness Book of Records: 吉尼斯世界记录

unprecedented /ʌnˈprɛsɪdɛntɪd/: adj. 前所未有的；史无前例的

nevertheless /nɛvəðəˈlɛs/: adv. 然而；尽管如此

wag /waɡ/: n. 喜欢开玩笑的人 vt. 摇

Hawking married his college sweetheart, Jane Wilde, in 1965, two years after his diagnosis. She first set eyes on him in 1962, lolloping down the street in St Albans, his face down, covered by an unruly mass of brown hair. A friend warned her she was marrying into "a mad, mad family". With all the innocence of her 21 years, she trusted that Stephen would cherish her, she wrote in her 2013 book, Travelling to Infinity: My Life With Stephen.

In 1985, during a trip to Cern, Hawking was taken to hospital with an infection. He was so ill that doctors asked Jane if they should withdraw life support. She refused, and Hawking was flown back to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge for a lifesaving tracheotomy. The operation saved his life but destroyed his voice. The couple had three children, but the marriage broke down in 1991. Hawking's progressive condition, his demands on Jane, and his refusal to discuss his illness, were destructive forces the relationship could not endure, she said. Jane wrote of him being "a child possessed of a massive and fractious ego," and how husband and wife became "master" and "slave".

▍生词好句

sweetheart /ˈswiːthɑːt/: n. 恋人；心上人

set eyes on: 看到；注意到

lollop /ˈlɒləp/: vi. 摇晃着走；笨拙地闲荡

a mass of: 大量的；一大团

Cern: 欧洲核子研究组织（European Organization for Nuclear Research [英]/Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire [法]）

withdraw /wɪðˈdrɔː/: vt. 撤下；收回

tracheotomy /ˌtrakɪˈɒtəmi/: n. 气管切开术

demand /dɪˈmɑːnd/: n. 要求；索求

destructive /dɪˈstrʌktɪv/: adj. 破坏的；毁灭性的

be possessed of: 具有；拥有

massive /ˈmasɪv/: adj. 大量的；巨大的

fractious /ˈfrakʃəs/: adj. 易怒的；倔强的

ego /ˈiːɡəʊ, ˈɛːɡəʊ/: 自我；自尊